The landlord and tenant relationship has clear benefits for both parties and provides something essential to the other. Your tenant has a place to call home, and you receive a reasonable profit for providing it.
You know that if your tenants do not like where they live, you risk losing the tenant and trying to fill a vacancy, but you do not want to please one tenant at the expense of others. It is essential that you institute rules and guidelines so that all your tenants are happy and feel safe.
Here’s what you should know about your tenants’ rights to have guests.
They can have guests
Part of your tenants enjoying where they live is inviting people over to share the space. While some tenants may not entertain very often, others may have guests over regularly.
Since your tenants pay rent, they enjoy a right to quiet enjoyment of the space, and that necessarily includes having the right to have other people over.
You have rights, too
Your view of your tenants’ guests may depend on your experience. If you have had negative experiences, you may be tempted to try and limit your tenants’ ability to have guests.
While there are limitations, you do have the right to ban certain people from the property. If one of your tenants invites people over who are destructive or engaging in illegal activities, you can and should give your tenant notice that those individuals are no longer permitted on the property. Additionally, you should review your lease and determine whether the actions of the tenant’s guest constitute a lease violation.
Beware the unintended tenant
Some tenants will love their leased space so much that they invite a guest to stay with them for more than the occasional overnight. If this continues for a prolonged period of time, it potentially creates difficulties with all manner of lease-related issues such as rent responsibilities, evictions, and what to do if the original tenant and their “permanent” guest have a falling out.
The key here is to communicate with your tenants what the rules are when it comes to guests and what limitations you have for people who stay overnight. When you have firm boundaries, it makes it clear to your tenants that you do not have the same obligations to their guests as you have to them.
